Microsoft To Replace Entourage With New Outlook For Mac
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Microsoft has announced that the next version of Office For Mac will include Outlook as a replacement for Entourage.
“It is an exciting time for the MacBU with updates to our current products and the first public announcement about the next version of Office for Mac. For several years we have focused on providing the best Microsoft Exchange client for the Mac, and the Web Services Edition delivers that today for Entourage users,” said Eric Wilfrid, general manager for the MacBU at Microsoft. “Outlook for Mac will bring features our customers have long requested — such as Information Rights Management — that make working across platforms even easier. I think people will see that this move to Outlook for Mac is more than just a name change.”This could be really good, or really bad. Although Microsoft says this will not be a feature-to-feature match for Windows-based Outlook, anything that gives Mac users greater compatibility, especially with Exchange, is a positive step forward. That being said, we all know that Microsoft doesn't always deliver as promised. A new Outlook for Mac is vaporware at this point, since the release of Office for Mac is at least eighteen months out. And I hope the migration process from Entourage to the new Outlook isn't as problematic as the one we had to endure from Outlook Express for Mac to Entourage when the latter was first released.
I think this represents acknowledgment on Microsoft's part that the Mac is in the enterprise to stay, and I look forward to testing the new Outlook for Mac when it becomes available.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 11:22 AM 0 comments
Labels: apple, mac, microsoft office, outlook
New Office 2008 For Mac Update Fixes Glitch
Friday, August 7, 2009
To update Wednesday's post, Microsoft has released a new Office 2008 For Mac update which fixes a glitch that prevented users from opening some Office 2007 For Windows (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) documents. The new update is version 12.2.1 and can be obtained here.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 8:26 AM 0 comments
Labels: alerts, apple, mac, microsoft office
Mac OS X 10.5.8 And Office 2008 For Mac Service Pack 2
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Two major Macintosh updates of note. The first is that Apple has released the latest update for Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5.8, along with a slew of security updates for Leopard and other versions of the Mac OS. As always it's a good idea to back up your system before applying these updates. You will find them via Software Updates in your Apple Menu.
On a similar note, Microsoft has released an update for Office 2008 for Mac, and with this one I have to urge caution. Service Pack 2 (version 12.2.0) breaks compatibility with Word 2007 for Windows (.docx) files. You'll find the advisory and workarounds here. If you require the ability to open .docx files I recommend you hold off on this update until the problems are fixed.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 5:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: alerts, apple, mac, microsoft office, security
Adobe Joins Patch Tuesday
Friday, June 5, 2009
Adobe has announced it will begin releasing updates to its Acrobat and other software the second Tuesday of the month on a three-month cycle, matching Microsoft's longstanding Patch Tuesday schedule of monthly updates. This makes it more convenient for you to know when your software needs to be updated. It also helps IT workers coordinate upgrades to minimize downtime for end users.
Note that next week's Patch Tuesday will bring us a round of patches from both Microsoft and Adobe, so keep up with your Automatic Updates and stay tuned to Tech Tips for the latest news.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 11:57 AM 0 comments
Labels: adobe, mac, microsoft office, windows
Mac OS X 10.5.7 Problems, Plus PowerPoint Pettiness
Thursday, May 14, 2009
If you're using Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), avoid the latest update, 10.5.7. It's buggier than a mosquito zapper in August.
Also watch out for malicious PowerPoint presentations on Macs, or on PCs using Microsoft Works. Microsoft's Patch Tuesday this month released bug fixes for PowerPoint, but only if you use Office for Windows. No indication as to if or when Microsoft might fix the problem for Works for Windows or Microsoft Office for Mac.
Posted byTriona Guidry at 6:43 AM 0 comments
Labels: mac, microsoft office, security, windows